


My friendly neighbourhood witch

by Solrey



Series: Advent-time specials [4]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: December - Freeform, Happy 4th Advent, Hyunjin is a vampire, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Merry Chistmas, Pining, Roses, Seungmin is a witch, Snow, alternative universe, and Seungmin is a whole cutie pie, and fluffy, secret love interest, this is sweet, village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 19:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17127599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solrey/pseuds/Solrey
Summary: Seungmin was a local witch that treated the ill and wounded, gaining kindness from his home village.One day, he finds a rose on his doorstep and is confused. And then the next day and the day afterwards too.Why would someone bring a rose to his doorstep everyday in december?





	My friendly neighbourhood witch

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 4th Advent (I know its late) and Merry Christmas!  
> Because I had a Job where I worked till six and then needed another half an hour to get home, I wasn't able to creat two seperate stories for the 4th advent and Christmas, so you get one for both. Whoops. :*  
> Anyways, this is a fluffly Hyunmin story, enjoy~  
> (This is also not beta-read because I'm working on Christmas, whelp. And I would have made it longer but it's currently 01:51 on the 24 and I need to wake up at 7 to get to work. Rip me. Sorry that its kinda incomplete at some points.)
> 
>  
> 
> Question: Neighborhood or Neighbourhood? I found both, which is more common?

“Seungmin!” 

A cheerful voice echoed through his shop, reaching his ears and brighten up his mood immediately. The young girl came running in through the door, her light brown hair bobbing up and down on her shoulders while a huge smile was visible on her face, the door just lightly swinging back before a hand pushed it inwards again. A giggle escaped the young girl’s mouth and as soon as she arrived at Seungmins side, she threw herself at him, engulfing him in a heart-warming hug. Seungmin laughed a little and his eyes casted down, happy seeing the young girl so early in the morning. He returned the hug just lightly before they parted.

“Veronica! How can you be so energetic in the morning?” Seungmin asked the young girl with a hint of amusement in his voice and said one gave him a big smile. Veronica was such a joyful child; she always got him with her cheerfulness. 

The hand of an older woman appeared on Veronicas shoulder and he casted his eyes up, seeing an elderly woman with a small smile. Veronicas grandmother and the oldest woman in the village, truly a woman you could look up to – so fit and energetic at such a high age. 

“Good morning, sweety, we didn’t meant to bark in at such an early hour, I’m sorry if we interrupted you.” Her eyes glistered in the dim light of his small lamp from his shop and he thought he could see some mischievousness in her elderly eyes. 

“Oh no problem, Lissandra, I just opened. However, why do you visit so early? Did something happen? Do you need something?” Seungmins voice came with a serious tone now, alarmed if something might have happened over the night. With working for this village for years now, there came a certain amount of responsibility for him – Seungmin being the only ‘doctor’ in kilometers around the village made him the only one, who could treat wounded or ill people. Being the only one brought him many visitors but also a lot work, doing everything by himself had its price. Therefore, seeing an elderly woman – the oldest – so early in the morning was alarming, he almost never had visitors that early. However, Lissandra waved it off, signaling with her hand that her visit had something to do with Veronica. 

“No, no, nothing happened don’t worry Seungmin. Veronica and I did something yesterday and we will share it with the village that is why we’re here. She wanted to give it to you first, right Veronica?”

“Yes!” 

With that, Veronica grabbed in the basket her grandmother was holding and took out a wrapped up package. He silently debate with himself how he hadn’t noticed the basket before but was interrupted, when Veronica shoved the present at him, smiling widely, showing of her cute front teeth. 

“Here! That’s all for you!” 

Veronica giggled when Seungmin looked at it a bit uncertain and added, “It’s not poisoned!” Seungmin just laughed off the statement of the younger before unwrapping the present. Under the cover of paper laid handmade cookies, all with different Christmas motives and many sprinkles. Like, a lot. They kind off fell out of the wrapping and spread all over the floor. Not that he could be mad at her that is just how Veronica was, a sweet and happy child with a big sweet tooth. A big smile made its way up on Seungmins lips and he felt, how his day started much better than he thought it would. 

“For me?” He asked, his happy mood swinging with the words.

“Yes of course, dummy! I made them with grandma and look, look! I made a pink unicorn!” 

Veronica smiled even brighter when she pointed at the pinkish unicorn with way to many sprinkles.

“All right, then that’s my favorite.” 

He pointed out and at his words, Veronica once again hugged him, seemingly happy over his statement. 

“I want to be like you when I grow up, Seungmin. Can I become your student? Please?” Her last words where stretched very long and he needed to hold in a laugh that tried to escape his mouth, so she wouldn’t feel bad for asking. Seungmin shared a knowing look with Lissandra and placed the cookies gentle on the table next to them before crouching down, smiling at her.

“I’m not even a fully learned witch. I need to learn more before I can take students in, so we need to see what the future brings, okay? I can’t promise it to you.” 

Veronica tilted her head lightly before nodding understandingly. She broke the hug with Seungmin and turned to her grandmother who smiled warmly at the young girl. Together they left soon after, Veronica frankly waving at him when they disappeared down the road and a sigh escaped his lips. He really liked the idea of having a student but he didn’t feel good enough yet to give his knowledge to someone else, Seungmin wanted and needed to study more before he could do that. With that in mind, he turned around to enter his shop again but something caught his eye, making him stop in his movements. A single red rose laid next to his doorstep on the ground. Surprised, his brows knitted together and he gazed around, trying to find the source of the rose but there was none. Along the road was no one in sight and all the villagers he knew where human, so it couldn’t be one of them, he would have seen them. On the other hand, he knew that a vampire lived around the area of the village and took the humans under his protection but he crossed that possibility out. He and the vampire never really engaged with each other before, the only times they actually talk is at the festivals that are held a few times a year. Seungmin remembered years where he hasn’t seen the vampire at all. Continuing after this thought, what was left? The rose probably belong to either Veronica or Lissandra, there was no other way.

Deciding on the most plausible answer to the matter, he picked the rose up and brought it into his shop, placing it next to the cookies. In his mind, he searched for a vase and he remembered that he had an old one in the back of his shop, so he went and searched for it. On his adventurous search, Seungmin got lost in time, finding so many old, long lost things that he needed way more time finding the vase he was actually looking for. One of the things he found was a picture, probably thirty years old; it was brown and white, a really old classic photo. To his surprise, it was a picture of himself when he was nearly fourteen years old and all the villagers from back then, they had congratulated him back then for archiving the status of the pupil of the local witch. It was one of the best days of his life, he was so happy back then that everyone congratulated him, that he had cried in the picture. In a very ugly way to say. His embarrassed mind told him to burn it and never remember that he made a face like that once, but his heart told him otherwise. The picture was too important. He could never burn it. 

After looking at the picture for a couple of minutes more, something caught his eye. In the right corner stood the boy, he knew as the vampire – Hwang Hyunjin - if he remembered correctly. Vampires age so slowly he was caught off guard, that the boy still looked the same after thirty years, if again, he remembered correctly. Seungmin himself was also slowly ageing; he put a spell on himself so he could live longer and see more; learn more. However, he was still ageing and that was visible. His body grew a lot the last thirty years, he had now the body of a young adult and his mind aged with each year he passed, gaining more knowledge. 

Think about the old times, he brought the photo along with the vase back into his shop, placing the photo in between some pots of ingredients. He filled the vase with water and placed it on his counter, giving his room a certain atmosphere. It felt … brighter. It was only the first day of December but he couldn’t be happier with its beginning. Seungmin made a mental note to get Veronica a small gift to repay her kindness and the one of Lissandra. Maybe Veronica will be his pupil in the future and the thought of it made him excited. 

The day then kind off slipped by, he was so focused on getting all the ingredients for his new magic potion together that he hadn’t noticed that someone had entered his shop, looked at him for a pretty long time and then vanished. Nothing indicated that someone was there and Seungmin never found out about his visitor from that day. If he had payed attention to the just so slightly opened door, he would have noticed it because he was a perfectionist but he hadn’t, to exhausted from being focused all day. Seungmin had locked the door, put out his lamp and gone to bed. 

\--

Refreshed and in a good mood Seungmin stood up the next morning, oblivious to the fact that it had snowed outside at night. On his list stood shopping on the market in the early morning, so his ingredients would be fresh. So he got up, ate something and made himself ready to go out. After opening the door, he fell face first into the snow because he had slipped on it - (under his feet where a stone plate that he had laid in front of his shop and that had a fine layer of ice on it now, not that he knew of course) – but it was a pleasant surprise. He loved the winter, the world that was painted in white. It was one of the few times where Seungmin thought that the word could be at peace with itself, without being destructive and egoistic – just beautiful innocents. A laugh escaped his lips when he stood up and beat the snow off his clothes. What a truly beautiful beginning of December. 

He locked the door after him before his foots sent off to the villages market, mesmerized on the way by the forest in white. Seungmin remembered that not long ago, animals still could be heard all around the forest but now most of them where silent or asleep, the only sound echoing through the forest where lonely birds chirping. The way to the forest seemed to be much shorter today than normally, thanks to the snow, he guessed. 

Even though the sun was not long up, the market place was already filled with people selling their goods; from fresh fish, whole animals to potatoes or bags full of herbs. The young lady that sold young animals from their farm waved as soon as she saw him and he waved back, before heading further into the market. Along the way, he greeted many people, whom he knew for years now and many wished him a great day. The village people where so kind-hearted and nice, he wouldn’t know what he would do without their love. He was one of them and they accepted him as one, even though Seungmin had decided he wanted to become a witch, to learn witchcraft, they supported him and his goals. They knew Seungmin wouldn’t harm them but rather help them; they knew that Seungmin always had been eager to learn and as a witch he could fulfill his thirst for knowledge. 

Through the busy market, he made his way up to the shop that sold herbs – Lissandras Shop. She called it ‘Federkleid’ with much love and once she had told him what the word actually meant. It was a German word and meant a dress made out of feathers and she had chosen the word, because it reminded her of the lightness of her youthful years. With that in mind, he opened the door and was immediately welcomed by the scent of herbs. Lissandra was busy writing something down but when she heard that the door opened, she looked up and a smile formed on her lips. She gestured Seungmin to come in and so he did, stepping in and closing the door to keep out the cold. 

“Good morning Seungmin, is this revenge for our early visit yesterday?” She laughed and he did too.

“Revenge? No, I don’t think so. I’m here because I need some herbs; you know the usual. Restock stuff before I can’t get any in winter.” 

“Figured that much, sweety. I already prepared the usual for you.” Lissandra gestured to a few small bags lying behind on the counter and Seungmin laughed again, this woman could remember your order after the first time and never get it wrong afterwards. Sometimes he wonders why she wasn’t a witch because she held so much potential but it seemed her path led her another way. Grateful, he placed a bag with coins on the counter and took his herbs, placing them safely under his long coat. With small steps, he turned to the door and was almost out, and then he remembered and turned around.

“Say Lissandra, the rose yesterday came from you two, right?” He questioned, one of his eyebrows raised. 

“Rose? I don’t know what you’re speaking off, Seungmin. You got one?” Lissandra asked, the topic sparking interest in her. 

“Yeah but I thought it came from you two. If not, the person will come by eventually. Anyways, greet Veronica from me, have a good day!” 

“I will. Goodbye.”

With that, the door fell close behind him and he stood rather confused in front of the shop. If Lissandra and Veronica didn’t knew about the rose, who else could have left it at his shop? 

The confusion in his thoughts only got worse after he returned home and found yet another rose in front of his shop. Uncertain, he once again checked the rose but found no trace of someone, who could have placed the rose there. Two footprints where visible next to it in the snow, indicating that indeed someone had stood there but there was no evidents that the person actually left. The person he was, he checked first if he felt a presence in his shop and checked if someone had broken through his defense spell, but no, there was no such sign. He was indeed alone but he still felt watched, someone or something was there watching him from afar and he wasn’t able to pinpoint from where. Defeated, he retreated into his shop, placing the second rose in the vase next to the first one. How was he not able to feel the presence of the person but knew, that it was watching him? It frustrated him, knowing that such an easy task was still too difficult for him. Maybe that’s why Seungmin put much more effort into placing his recently bought herbs into the right places than normally, he needed the perfection of his movements, knowing what he did was right.

Later that day, his shop door opened and someone came in who had never visited his shop before and it would be an understatement to say that Seungmin was rather surprised. A rather shy smile was thrown his way and he wasn’t able to say a word, starring at the person in his shop. The vampire chuckled just lightly before coming closer and oh god, Seungmin thought to himself. He knew the vampire – not good – and knew that the girls swooned over him but he never had seen him like this before. Now he understood why the girls swooned over him. His pitch-black chin long hair framed his face perfectly, as a contrast his skin was so incredibly pale he almost looked like the snow outside but his full lips - who seemed to be a fiery red - said otherwise. Hyunjin was so incredible handsome he couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Just once in his lifetime he had been in love with a girl and they had been happy with each other but when she had grown older and he not, she had broken off their relationship. It was for the better, really. She had left the village soon after and four years later; he had been invited to her wedding and seeing her happy made him happy. She had found happiness in someone who could naturally age with her and he knew, they had three children over time. After this love, he had lost interest in it, knowing that everybody around him would die eventually and he would outlive him or her for a long time. Seeing the handsome vampire standing in his shop with a beautiful smile on his face brought up some long lost feelings, he never wanted to feel again. He hoped that after this, they wouldn’t see each other in years so this feeling could die down as soon as they appeared. 

After starring for way to long, a small wave in front of his eyes brought him back to reality and he felt how his cheeks heated up, feeling embarrassed that he had stared so bluntly. Seungmins eyes found a spot on his counter, too embarrassed to look up and meet the eyes of his customer. 

“Uh, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. I was kinda… surprised to see you here.” Seungmin said and his words came out a lot shyer than he had expected, blushed even more because he had just exposed that he had stared. Gosh, why was he such a mess?

“Don’t worry, I … don’t mind. I get why you are surprised, I never have been here before even though we life in the same neighborhood.” The vampire waved off and Seungmin looked up, only to find him looking at his herbs that he had stored behind him. 

“Anyways, the reason I’m here is because a friend of mine has a heavy fever that won’t go down and I’m in fear that they might die because of it. Do you have something that could help?” 

Alarmed, Seungmin sprung up and turned around, rummaging through his shelfs to find the right herbs. Seungmin was happy that he had gotten the herbs earlier because his stocks would have been too small to make such an important mix of ingredients. After mixing and finding everything he needed, he closed the small bag and gave it to the vampire who stood there with a relieved smile.  
“This will do for now I think; it should put down the fever. If the they don’t feel better after a few days, come back and tell me, I think I need to visit them at that point. Brew the herbs like a tea and give it to them while it’s hot, it won’t work when the liquid gets cold.” 

Seungmin pointed out and gave Hyunjin a serious look; the vampire returned his gaze and thanked him for his help. The vampire gave him his payment and left afterwards into the cold snow, and only after the door closes, Seungmin felt how fast his heart was beating. He cursed at it and tried to resume with his works but wasn’t exactly successful at it. His mind wandered many times back to the vampire and he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe someone had cursed him or poisoned him with a magic potion – but no, who should do that? He found himself rather often thinking how good the other had looked; so effortless beautiful and how polite he actually was. Damn, he shouldn't be thinking about someone in general.

However, he did anyway. Each day, to be precisely, that followed this one. For whatever reason he saw the vampire now more often, how Hyunjin talked with villagers on the market place or how young girls tried to land with him – to no success of course. He was glad that the vampire showed no interest in the girls and he knew he shouldn’t feel like that but he couldn’t help it. After so long, these feelings felt so odd and out of place, he wanted to chase them and find out how they could change him and his behavior. Damned be his thirst for the unknown. Seungmin also had a feeling that after this one meeting, Hyunjin seemed more comfortable with talking to him, fetching him on the market and explaining how his friend got better to Seungmins ‘magical’ herbs. Hyunjins words, not his. Not that he would say it aloud but he found Hyunjins voice so beautiful, he would listen to the other talking for hours and not get tired of it. In addition, his laugh. Gosh, his laugh was so contagious and sweet, he adored it so much that his heart did a flip whenever he heard it. At some point, he accepted his fate that he was head over heels in love with the vampire; even Lissandra teased him with it. That old woman knew too much for his liking, the teasing never ended.

Not only that changed in his life but also the roses that still appeared every day in front of his door, waiting for him to pick them up. Same with the 23 of December, one day before Christmas. A single red rose like always and he picked it up, putting it in the new vase he had gotten a few days prior because his old one just had not enough space to hold so many. Over the days and some weird ‘coincidences’ he was rather confident in his speculation, that the vampire was indeed the cause of his daily gifts. Seungmin had once asked him if he knew something about it and to no surprise, the vampire had looked like he had been cached doing so and shyly looked away, saying he had no idea. Seungmin figured that much already, knowing now that the vampire was probably too shy to say it out loud but not that he minded. It was a sweet gesture and he liked it, even though it was so romantic and normally romantic stuff wasn’t what he dealt with. Maybe it where his feelings that where okay with it; okay with the possibility that his secret admirer was indeed the vampire. Or maybe he just wanted him to be. 

In the early hours of the 24th of December, Seungmin left his shop and walked the road that led to the village. Like planned, he delivered his gift to Veronica who was already up and energetic. She hugged him, thanked him for the present he got her – it was a book about animals with basic information because he knew, she was as thirsty for information as he was – and got into a snowball fight with him afterwards. Of course Veronica won, he let her. (Don’t tell anybody that he had slipped and face planted the ground, that wasn’t important.) 

When he left, she waved after him and wished him merry Christmas. In a good mood he walked back, summing lightly a tune of a childhood song that Veronica always reminded him off. Surprised, he stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw his shop and something that didn’t belong there. Hyunjin stood outside of it, back facing him and he seemed nervous, holding something. The vampire seemed to debate with himself if he should place the item on the ground or not but decided to do so in the end. Seungmin saw how the vampire placed a bouquet of roses in front of his door and was about to leave, when Seungmin called out to him. His heart raced and his face felt hot but he was happy. So unbelievable happy he hadn’t been in a long time. 

“Don’t lay them down in the snow; they will wilt in the snow. Come inside.” 

Seungmin gestured to the door and stepped up to Hyunjin who looked surprised and embarrassed, not exactly knowing what he should say in such a situation.  
“Come on. You didn’t try to court me and after you succeeded, to randomly stand outside when I clearly want you inside. Now go in before I change my mind, is cold, god damn.”  
Seungmin laughed, pulling an embarrassed but happy vampire after him into his shop and Seungmin was sure, this was the best Christmas he ever had.


End file.
